


The Stepford Vampires

by ragnarockerbunny



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Horror, Supernatural - Freeform, Thriller, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 25
Words: 21,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24898594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragnarockerbunny/pseuds/ragnarockerbunny
Summary: Liz Chapman is the new girl in town, running from a regret filled past. When she meets James Stepford, an arrogant pretty boy at her new High School, she's warned to stay away from him.If only she listened.[Tagged for sexual violence which occurs near the end but no explicit scenes of sexual assault occurs in this work. Please take care of yourself, the work will always be here if you want to come back to it]





	1. Chapter 1

I royally fucked up.

I got burnt. If I could take it back, I would, I’d take it all back. If only I’d have just walked away…

My name is Liz Chapman.

And I’m the girl nobody likes, and no one wants to be. I’m telling you my story so that you don’t become me. So no one else becomes me. So no one else goes through what I went through.

Two months before the last day of school I was at a party at my best friend’s boyfriend’s house. He was there, she was out of town. And I always thought he was really cute. And he was being extra nice to me. And I was drunk, and we went to his room to talk alone and…

And I kissed him. And he kissed me back. And then we went back to his bedroom. And we fucked. It shouldn’t have gone as far as it did.

Some anonymous douchebag was at the door with a camera. We never found out who leaked the video but me fucking my best friend’s boyfriend was shared and I went from relatively no one to public enemy number one real fast.

Long story short, I lost all my friends, I spent the rest of the year miserable and alone and a pariah and to top it all off, that first month… I was late. Mom had to drive me to the clinic. Despite being the best mom in the world, she had the unfortunate luck of having me for a daughter.

My mom deserved better.

After that, mom decided it’d be best if we moved. Get a fresh start.

Usually when you move, your friends help you pack, but at that point my friends wouldn’t piss on me if I was on fire. So it was just me and my mom and we headed East.

Truth be told, it kind of broke me. No one even said goodbye. I know, I know what I did was bad but… I never saw them again. It was like no one even cared if I was dead or alive. Actually, it was worse, everyone just… Pretended like I was never even there.

So yeah, that sucked.

We moved to our new house in a new town and I was a mess and a video of me fucking my best friend’s boyfriend was floating around the internet but at least no one here knew enough about me to hate me. I’d rather no one know me than hate me.

But then summer break was over and it was time for my senior year and now I was the new girl.

That’s when I met him;

James Stepford.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the first day of school and after another senior went through the motions of showing me around, it was lunch, and I had to sit somewhere. And maybe I was imagining things but it was like people _knew_. Maybe they didn’t know exactly what I did but I was the new girl in senior year and there was something off about me and everyone knew and you could just see it in their eyes that they wanted nothing to do with me.

Or that’s what it felt like.

Maybe everyone was perfectly normal and just going about their day and there I was, a perfect stranger in a crowded room, blending without someplace to belong.

I didn’t want that. I’d rather just be alone.

I decided to take my lunch to the bleachers. If I’m going to be alone it’s not going to be in a room full of people, that’s for sure.

Except I wasn’t the only one there.

There was a boy, waving a cigarette, explaining something to a girl in front of him. He wore thick rimmed glasses and a parka coat despite the heat. The girl was all high waisted shorts and heart shaped sunglasses. I tried not to listen in but he wasn’t exactly keeping the conversation to himself.

“And they’re all just these little drones, going about their lives, worrying about who’s fucking who and which jock is the cutest and which girl is the sluttiest and when they’re gonna get their cherry popped and it’s like, there’s better out there, you know? People in highschool are so worried about highschool shit.” He said.

“I hate ‘em all.” The girl echoed.

“It’s so beneath us but I suppose we’ll play the part. Oh, and what do we have here. A deserter. They’ll have you court-martialled for daring to be different.” He said, and it took me a second to realise he was talking to me.

“Sorry? Are you talking to me?” I asked.

“Yeah, duh. I have not seen your face before. Do you recognize her, Mary-Anne?”

“Can’t say I do. And she’s gutsy enough to eavesdrop on us, so she must be new.”

“Fresh blood. And in senior year, oh, it must be tough. Big changes. So, what’s your deal, new kid?”

“I don’t have a deal. I just came here to be alone.”

“Hate to be that guy but, this is kind of our spot.”

“Yeah, I get it, I’ll go.”

“Hey, hey, now I didn’t say I wanted you to leave. Do you want her to leave, Mary-Anne?”

“Been a while since we had a new plaything.” Mary-Anne giggled.

“I am _not_ a plaything.” I half-shouted.

“And she’s feisty, oh, I like her. What’s your name?”

“None of your goddamn business.”

“Now, now. We’re not trying to make enemies, we’re just a couple delinquents getting high on fresh air. I’m James, this is Mary-Anne. We’re the kids who hate all the other kids. But that’s only because they’re a flock of sheep. Are you a sheep?”

“I’m just trying to get through the day.”

“How pedantic.”

“Oh, sorry my life doesn’t interest you. Why’d you even talk to me?”

“I dunno. You looked interesting. But maybe you aren’t, just like all the other dregs around here. It’s a pity, I would have welcomed the conversation. Guess you are just like all the other girls.”

“I’m nothing like other girls.”

“Sure you aren’t, love.”

“Are you always such a twat or do you have to take a break to put all that product in your hair?”

“Better that than a loner pretending to hate the only two people who’ll even talk to her.”

“Wow, okay, fuck you, dude.”

“I bet the whole tough-chick thing might have been cute back at whatever backwater sinkhole you crawled out of. Except no one here thinks you’re tough, you just look like a scared little kid who never learned how to make friends. It’s one thing to be boring; it’s another to be pathetic.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

“One of these days there might even be something about you worth knowing.”

The bell rang then. I hated letting him have the last word. But it cut deep. Truth be told, sometimes, I think he was right. Maybe I was pathetic. Not even pitiable.

“Guess we’ll be heading off then. Enjoy the solitude, new kid. Don’t choke on your own bravado.” James said.

“Eat shit.” I spat, but he got to me, and it showed.

He waved me off. Mary-Anne gave me a pitying look, then followed James. Despite the fact that she didn’t even say anything all that bad to me, I found myself hating her a little too. I wish it stuck.

I wish that was the last I saw of them.


	3. Chapter 3

After letting James and Mary-Anne walk by me, I began my walk to class, a little dejected.

Was I really that much of a bitch?

I mean, I was going through a tough time but did James got under my skin so easily. It made me wonder if there really was something wrong with me. Was it hurting me so much because he’s right?

That thought got cut short when a hand grabbed my shoulder while I walked down the corridor.

“ _What_ is your fucking problem, dude?” I turned and glared at the boy.

“Look, you don’t know me but I have to warn you, do _not_ get involved with the Stepfords.” He said, both hands on my shoulders now.

“Are all the guys at this school assholes? Get your hands off me!” I said, pushing him off.

“Look, just… Listen, they’re bad news. James Stepford is bad news.”

“Look, he’s an ass, anyway, I just wanna get to class. Would say it’s been a pleasure but it hasn’t, so like, whatever.”

“I know why you transferred.” I stopped in my tracks. I could feel tears welling up but I was not going to let this guy see me cry.

“Don’t you dare. Just… Don’t.”

“You’re vulnerable.”

“So what, you want a blowjob for my silence or something?”

“What? No! You aren’t my type.”

“Oh, wow. Okay, whatever. Are you gonna blackmail me now?”

“Wasn’t planning on it. Just… Look. He’ll take advantage of that. Don’t let him.”

“Who the fuck even are you? Why do you care? I came to this school to get away from all that but everyone here just makes me feel like shit and I’m not trying to be a charity case or a target, I just wanna get through the year and go to college and become the girl people forgot about. Can I just do that?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I’ll go. Just wanted to warn you. Sorry.”

“But like, seriously, who even are you?”

“Oh. I’m Troy.”

“Okay, Troy. I’m Liz. But I bet you already knew that. I’d ask why, or how, but I’m late. Just… What you did was creepy. Don’t stalk girls like that. Bye Troy.”

“Bye, Liz. Stay safe.”

“Yeah.”

That was my first meeting with Troy. In hindsight, I think he genuinely was trying to look out for me. But Troy wasn’t my guardian angel. He was the gasoline that fuelled the fire and I can’t help wondering that if maybe he’d left well alone, none of us would end up in the mess we did.

But that’ll come later. First I have to tell you about how I disregarded everything Troy tried to tell me.


	4. Chapter 4

My mom dropped me off at school the next day. I knew this whole thing was hard on her but she could tell I hadn’t had the best first day.

“You gonna be okay, baby girl?” She asked.

“Yeah, mom, I’ll be fine.”

“I just hoped a new start might take the weight off your shoulders but it’s like you’re carrying heavier than ever.”

“Yeah, well, it’s just hard being the new girl. Haven’t been the new girl since… Ever.”

“What can I say, once a girl gets comfy, it’s hard to break routine.”

“Mom, I’m sorry. I hate that you left your job and your friends and your life and it’s all my fault. I’m such a fucking disappointment.”

“No, no, baby girl… You couldn’t disappoint me if you tried.”

“You should hate me! You should hate me and be mad at me and…I dunno!”

“I mean, that sounds exhausting. Can I just give you a hug instead?”

“I just… I don’t understand.”

“Listen, I’m not thrilled about a lot of what happened? And yes, you’ve made some bad decisions, and honey, you’re going to have to own them. But you’ve also been so brave. Even when the walls cave in, I see the way you keep trying to rebuild and as your mother, I will always be proud of that. One day the storms will ease, and when it all blows over, you’ll know peace again. You just gotta hang in there.”

“I’m so sorry, mom.”

“You don’t have to apologize so much, sweetie. It really is okay. We’re going to be okay. Just take it one day at a time.”

“I love you, mom.”

“I love you too, baby girl. You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah. I’m going to be okay.”

“Well then, have a good day. Make some friends! Because we are _not_ moving by ourselves again. I’m too old to pack boxes.”

“How come I have to make friends and you don’t?”

“I can only make friends with people who are too old to pack boxes. It’s all up to you, kiddo.”

“Fiiiiiiine.”

“Go. Skedaddle. Begone. I wanna listen to my jams and you have class.”

“See you later, mom!”

“See you, baby girl.”

I got out of the car, and a red Cadillac pulls in behind me. Who fucking else but James Stepford gets out. I turn and my mom raises an eyebrow at me, but I shook my head and continued on.

“New kid! How is it hanging?”

“Twatford! I can’t believe anyone would trust you with a car that nice. Or maybe you’re just overcompensating.”

“I appreciate that you appreciate my taste.” He smiled smugly.

“You are the actual worst.”

“You’ll warm up to me. Must be nice to have an older sister that drives you around.”

“Oh my God, you did not just. Does that ever work? You’re unbelievable. Like, I genuinely can’t tell if you’re trying to hit on me or my mom.”

“Honest mistake, I swear.”

“There’s very little honest about you.”

“That’s very presumptuous.”

“Why are you even interested in me? Aren’t you and Mary-Anne dating?”

“Me and Mary-Anne? Oh, god no. She’s my adopted sister.”

“Then what is this, you just here to give me a shake down? Because there isn’t anything you can do to me, James. Take your best shot.”

“Nothing of the sort. But seems there’s more life in you today. The lady in the car have anything to do with that?”

“My mom might have had something to do with it, and not even you can ruin it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

I walked in through the doors, and a girl in a pink cardigan stepped to me.

“Christ will forgive you if you repent.”

“I dunno, I might have a lot of repenting to do before that. Been kind of a bad girl.”

“Jesus befriended prostitutes to absolve them of their sins.”

“Excuse me?”

“SLUUUUUUT” some boy shouted at me, as I walked past me.

My heart dropped into my stomach as I pushed past the pink cardigan and saw a group of boys crowded around a screen. I pushed them aside and to my horror, there I was, in all my glory. Drunk and on top of my ex-best friend’s boyfriend. I suppose by now he was my ex-best friend’s ex.

I wanted to run. I wanted to get out of there, I wanted to just go find somewhere to cry.

James was still following me and he went to the boy holding the phone.

“Classless little boy. Couldn’t just jerk off in private, could you?”

“God, Stepford, go white knight somewhere else.”

“That’s a nice phone. Too bad it’s all banged up.”

“What are you talking about?” James ripped the phone from the boy’s hand and smashed it on the ground.

The boy took a swing at James but James stepped out of the way and shoved him. The boy crashed face first into the lockers and his friends stepped up to fight. James made the first move and hit one guy so hard he went down immediately. Now there were only two left, and one grabbed James from behind. The other came to follow up but James kicked him square in the jaw, then elbowed the last guy in the ribs, and he went down.

“If I catch _anyone_ watching that video, I will personally break both your phone and your face. Some shit happened, it’s nobody’s business, now get back to being the fucking losers I know each and every one of you are.”

I stood watching him for a second, before managing to say a word.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“That was… Actually pretty cool. Thanks. I think.”

“You’re uh… You’re welcome.”

“Why’d you do that?”

“Do I need a reason?”

“I mean, I’d like one. And I don’t know if I’d have done the same if it was the other way around.”

“I doubt you could have. You’re like, four weight classes under these guys. They’d toss you like a football.”

“God, you know how to ruin a moment. Thanks. Okay. Bye.”

“You haven’t told me your name.”

“What?”

“Am I gonna call you New Kid all year?”

“Oh. I’m Liz.”

“Pleasure is all mine.”

“Don’t make me regret that.” I said.

In time I would. But at that moment, for just those few seconds, James really did seem like the coolest guy in the world. A teacher eventually came to drag everyone involved to the principal’s office. James winked at me as he got pulled away and somehow it didn’t make me hate him.

For a moment there, it was like it’d all turn out okay.


	5. Chapter 5

Somehow James single-handedly beating up three guys was made into a bigger story than me. And thank God for that. But Troy’s warning was still in the back of my mind, and it was brought to the front when I saw him waiting outside in the parking lot.

“You didn’t listen.”

“You and James have beef, I get it. Leave me out of it.”

“You’re going to get hurt, Liz!”

“Are you threatening me, Troy? Because honestly, James has been more of a friend than you have. And no one other than you knew about what happened at my last school so you’re kind of prime suspect here.”

“I didn’t tell anyone. And you think James is your friend, but he’s not.”

“Look Troy, whatever this thing is between you and James? It has nothing to do with me. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself. If you’re worried about me, don’t be. And as far as James goes, he’s just some guy who happened to be nice to me one time.”

“Please, Liz, please be careful.”

James walked up and Troy looked like he wanted to bail. I stood there watching and for a moment, James’ eyes grew cold. I couldn’t really figure out what it was at the time but for a moment I was scared.

“James.” Troy spat.

“Troy Holland. Still trying to rain on my parade.”

“Heard you got into a fight with some kids. Thought that kind of thing was beneath you.”

“They had it coming.”

“Nothing ever changes, James. You’re a cancer.”

“You wound me. What have I ever done to deserve such cold treatment?”

“I swear to God, James… You’re going to get what’s coming to you.”

“You bore me. If you’re going to fuck off, then fuck off. If not, do something other than be boring.”

“This ends, James. One way or another.”

“Goodbye, Troy. Don’t let the closet hit you on your way out.”

Troy was about to rush at James but I stepped in the way. James looked at me surprised, but he kept his cool. Troy went red in the face.

“Let it go, Troy. It’s not worth it.”

“You don’t know what he’s doing.”

“Troy, go home.” I said. Troy looked very angry, but then took a deep breath.

“Be careful, Liz.”

Troy got into his car and drove off.

“You wanna tell me what happened between you two to piss him off so much?”

“It’s boring. I don’t like boring stories.”

“I do.”

“Troy just has issues. Always has. Probably isn’t even my place to talk about them. But you de-escalated that quite nicely.”

“Yeah, well, I figured I owed you one.”

“Have dinner with me.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t like you, James! You’re arrogant and childish and you did one nice thing for me but that doesn’t make us friends. It doesn’t mean I like you. It just means that you did a nice thing. Can’t it just be that?”

“I’m not asking you to have dinner with me because I want a thank you. I want you to have dinner with me because I think you’re interesting.”

“I know that might sound like a compliment to you, but it’s not. I’m not a plaything. I’m not some shiny object for you to get bored with once you’re done with me.”

“I know you aren’t an object. I want to get to know you better. This is me trying, Liz, I’m trying to reach out. I don’t want a plaything, that’s Mary-Anne. And you’re right, interesting isn’t an adequate word. You’re beautiful and resilient and I underestimated you. I didn’t know you went through all that and kept going. I just want to find out more about this person who showed up and made life less dull around here.”

“That was actually kind of nice.”

“Hoping I nailed it first time because I’m not all that good at big speeches.”

“Okay, yes.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll have dinner with you. But I have conditions.”

“Name them.”

“At your house, and it’s pizza, and you’re paying. I reserve the right to leave if it’s bad. And it’s super casual. No expectations, no big gestures, just two people eating together and maybe a movie and we don’t make a big thing out of it.”

“Sounds fair.”

“You’re not just into me because I’m the girl in the leaked sextape, are you?”

“I’m interested because you’re the girl who survived being in a leaked sextape.”

“Where was this side of you when we met?”

I should have just left it at a no. But James somehow just said all the right things and in that moment I thought I could see that he wasn’t just an arrogant pretty boy.

I had no idea what the truth was.


	6. Chapter 6

James picked me up in his Cadillac that night. His house was way up in the hills, and god, was it a beautiful house. Practically a mansion. Surrounded by pine trees, clear oval pool in the back, lots of glass doors and artsy coffee tables. Definitely where my Americana daydreams are forever going to take place. Long, perfectly smooth driveway.

Not gonna lie, I was seduced by it all.

James walked me in through the back, and it seems that’s where they all were. The Stepfords.

They definitely did seem a little WASP-y. Made me wonder how they made their money. Well, I guess I know now, but at the time it was a little like a fairy tale. Lower middle class girl moves to small town and a pretty and rich boy drives her up to his mansion to meet his rich parents and spoil her with anything she wants.

How could I say no?

I met Charlie first. Charlie Stepford was the patriarch. Strong, good looking in that Jeremy-Irons-silver-fox kind of way. Looked up from his book and gave me a strong handshake.

“Ah, James’s latest victim, it seems. Wonderful to meet you, miss…?”

“Uh, Liz. Liz Chapman.”

“Miss Chapman. A pleasure. Butch and Helena will be down in a minute.”

“Butch and Helena?” I asked.

“James’s sister and brother-in-law.”

“He only mentioned Mary-Anne to me.”

“They have an… Interesting relationship.”

Butch and Helena did indeed follow down soon after. Butch was a tall, square man with hands that could probably pop soccer balls like grapes. Thick beard, cleanly shaved head, piercing blue eyes. Helena was gorgeous. Perfect summer tan with legs that didn’t end in heels and a sundress that made her look like the only woman in the room who even mattered. It took me a minute to take them in, this hulking man by the side of a goddess.

Butch came and gave me a bear hug, while Helena stayed back.

“Look at this precious thing! James, where’d a sorry sack like you find a decent girl? Oh, look at me, going off! I’m Butch, what’s your name then?” Butch said and put me down.

“Liz… Liz Chapman.” I said, a little out of breath.

“Charmed. I’m sure my father has already introduced me.” Helena nodded. I smiled and nodded back and Helena gave me the elevator eyes.

I was suddenly very aware of how I was dressed. Black jeans, black hoodie, black sneakers… It suddenly seemed so inappropriate.

“Hey, where’s Mary-Anne?”

“Out, God help us.” James laughed.

“Seems like you two are close.”

“I suppose we are. Alright, well, I’m going to head to the pizza oven then. Someone here has to cook.”

“You guys have a pizza oven?!” I said loudly, and my face went red.

“I know you said ordered but I can’t stand it if I don’t make it myself. And I wouldn’t dare insult you by turning down an offer to help.” James smiled.

“It’s like you’re not even the same person” I mumbled.

James and I spent the next few up to our elbows in dough and flower. It was… Fun. Carefree. I had to admit, it was the happiest I’d been in a while and sometimes that messes me up, thinking about it.

We eventually stopped fooling around and James finished his fresh marina sauce. He quietly slipped a bottle of white wine into my hands and we took the pizza to his room.

“So how is it?” He asked, knowing full and well this was probably the best goddamn pizza I’d ever eat.

“So good. Like, this is how I wanna die. If I’m ever on death row, this is what I want for a final meal.”

“I’ll make a note of it.”

“Seriously though, like, how come you’re just at some public school when your parents are clearly stacked?”

“It’s either that or homeschooling. And there’s no one but Mary-Anne to tease at home.”

“Honestly, wish that was an option for me.”

“I can see why it’d be attractive to someone in your situation.”

“Not just that. I’d get to spend all day with my mom and never have to worry about how I relate to other students and just avoid all the drama.”

“But then you’d never meet me, and wouldn’t that be a crime.”

“I think I have you figured out, James Stepford.”

“Not Twatford?”

“Not tonight. I think you spent a lot of your life in an ivory tower reading your fancy books and getting your way and when you finally came to walk among us commoners it wasn’t anything like it seemed from up there.”

“Am I so transparent?”

“I see right through you.”

“Well I think I’ve got you figured out too, Elizabeth Chapman.”

“Oh, Elizabeth, is it?”

“I think you put up a façade. I think you act all tough because you got let down once and it hurt, but really, you’re just a big old softy.”

“Save the armchair psych for the experts, you’re not even close!”

“Well how far off am I?”

“I don’t act tough, I am tough. But because I choose to be. I decided a long time ago that if people are gonna think I’m a bitch anyway then I’m going to be the baddest bitch in the room.”

“Oh, darling, not in any room with Helena in it.”

“Oh my goddd, your sister has all this presence. Has she always been like that?”

“There was a time she was pleasant.”

“You two don’t get along?”

“We get along fine. She just thinks she can point her nose down at me. At everyone, really.”

“Maybe it’s good there’s someone to keep you in check.”

“Whatever, it’s not like I see too much of her anyway. If she’s not with Butch, she’s with Charlie. Suits me fine.”

“Hey, James?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for this.”

“For what?”

“For tonight. I’m having fun. I thought this would suck but I’m having a good time. I haven’t had a good time in a while.”

“The night’s still young.”

There was a loud crash downstairs, and James sat upright. I was about to get up but he gestured for me to stay where I was.

James left for a bit, and when he got back, he looked visibly annoyed.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut our evening short.”

“Oh?”

“Mary-Anne had a bit of an accident. I’ll drive you home though.”

“Oh, well, hope she’s okay.”

“Nothing we can’t handle. It’s a pity, I was actually enjoying myself.”

“Maybe we can do this again, sometime?”

“I’d like that.”

James walked me out, and I saw Mary-Anne in the kitchen There was a deep cut on her forehead, and she glared at me as I walked past. I decided not to press and went straight to James’s car. The smell of blood followed me until I walked through the door, and James eventually got in.

The signs were there. I saw them. I just… Ignored them.

Don’t be like me.


	7. Chapter 7

At this point things started to seem a little off to me. James thought a lot of himself but he was nice to me. He just seemed like another rich kid who might just need an attitude adjustment. I was the bad one. So I needed to know…

Just what was the fallout between James and Troy?

One day after class I cornered Troy, but he was already talking to someone. She was pretty, if a bit butch. Short hair, leather jacket, red scarf. I doubt I’d seen her around a lot, but to be fair, the only thing I’d been occupied with was James Stepford and trying to adjust.

“I need to talk to you, Troy.” I said.

“Later.” He said, giving me a bit of an eye roll.

“I’d rather just get it out now, if it’s all the same with you. Sorry to interrupt, uh… I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Sigh, Liz, this is R-”

“Rose! My name is Rose.”

“Yes… Rose.”

“I just need a second.”

“Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of her.” Troy said.

“It’s about James.”

“Of course it is.” Troy sighed.

“What happened between you and James? I want to know, Troy. I think I need to know.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“That’s not a good enough answer. Despite everything, James actually has been kind of nice to me. He even made me dinner. He hasn’t given me much of a reason to be suspicious and the more you hold back the less urgent this thing between you too seems. If it’s that bad, Troy, just tell me. I promise I won’t judge… I think I’m the last person who should judge.”

“You went to their house?”

“I feel like you’re not hearing me, Troy.”

“God dammit, Liz, do you really not see it? They’re evil. They’re evil people. You need to stay away from them.”

“At some point, it starts looking like you don’t actually give a shit about me, Troy. You just hate some people and I don’t want to get in the middle of that. If you can’t give me a good reason to stay away, please, leave me out of it.”

“Yeah, you know what? Fine. Go, get all caught up and used and abused by The Stepfords. I am done. I am done doing this, I’m sick of it, no one listens anyway.”

“Troy…”

“I tried. I tried, man. What happens now is on you, Liz.”

Troy walked away, leaving me and Rose behind. I thought about following him but I’d actually started to believe maybe it just wasn’t worth it.

“Troy isn’t a bad guy. He really is just trying to protect you.” Rose said, surprising me.

“Do you know what happened?”

“I don’t. Troy… Troy kind of just… Goes somewhere if you try talking to him about it. But he is trying to protect you. He’s trying to protect us all.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“You’re better off not getting involved with them. I don’t know how much I can or should say but… James and Troy used to be close. I don’t know the details but Troy got burned. He wasn’t always like this. Troy used to be one of the softest, kindest people I knew.”

“Sounds like it was bad.”

“Bad enough. Liz, James is bad news. If you’re thinking about going out with that guy, don’t.”

“It just… Doesn’t make any sense.”

“Wish I could tell you more but… Some of it just isn’t my place. You might just have to trust us on this one.”

“Thanks anyway. I think… I think maybe I need to talk to James about this.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Rose said.

“It’s not like I have much other choice.”

I walked away, a little disappointed. All these warnings but no one really had anything concrete to tell me.

I suppose it didn’t matter, I would find out soon enough.

Makes me really wish I listened the first time.


	8. Chapter 8

I called James after that. Despite the warning signs I guess I just wanted to make a decision for myself. It felt like people were keeping me at arm’s length and I just wanted someone to be straight with me.

I called James from my bedroom.

“Hey, we should talk.”

“Yeah?”

“This thing with you and Troy, it just… It gives me a bad feeling. Troy wasn’t being straight with me so I’m hoping you will.”

“Hah, of course he isn’t. Like, I said, it’s a boring story.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“How about this, I pick you up and take you somewhere nice tonight and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“You don’t like making plans ahead of time, do you?”

“That doesn’t sound like a no.”

“Only because I had fun the other night.”

“It’s a date. Be there at six.”

“One of these days I’m going to say no just to wipe that smug grin off your face.”

“You’re all talk, Liz. See you later.”

We hung up, but I had to admit, I was excited. I was excited to see him again. I was excited to laugh and drive in his car and maybe he’d tell me that it was really just a misunderstanding and the bad blood could be avoided if they just talked. I wanted that to be true.

James got to my house 45 minutes late and my mom answered the door. I made sure to give her a minute to finish her speech about punctuality and what a gentleman he had to be, knowing he probably was super embarrassed. When I finally came down he looked happier to see me than anyone ever has, and my mom turned on me next.

“Don’t stay out too late or get in trouble, okay?”

“We won’t, mom.”

“And you promise you’re not just saying that?”

“I promise. I’ll see you later, love you.”

“Be safe, baby girl.” My mom hugged me, and gave James a look. I giggled a little, seeing him awkwardly shuffle out.

We got into his car and started driving.

“So did my mom give you a hard time?”

“I am never arriving late again.”

“Good, you shouldn’t keep a girl waiting.”

“Don’t want you to think I’m too eager, you might get a big head.”

“The poor girl who ends up with you.”

“You say that like I’m not taking you out tonight.”

“We’re super casual, remember. No expectations.” I winked.

“Almost got my hopes up. You’ll love the place, it’s a cute little Italian restaurant.”

“You know, if you weren’t such an asshole, girls might be lining up to be with you.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“You know what’s exhausting? Troy. What is so bad that neither of you wanna tell me?”

“It’s boring.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Well, it’s true. We used to be friends, he developed a little crush on me, I didn’t let him down gently and then it spiralled.”

“Oh. That’s really it?”

“Like I said, it’s boring.”

“You’re not doing that thing where you oversimplify so you don’t come off worse than it sounds, are you?”

“Not saying it didn’t get ugly, just that it’s banal. Troy’s a child and isn’t really my type.”

“Oh no, you’re into tall guys with dark eyes.”

“If he can’t reach my top shelves, he isn’t the one.”

It seemed like a relief. Maybe there was more to it but I could deal with a friendship that got ruined because someone had feelings and someone else was cruel. I didn’t have any right to judge that.

But it was more complicated.

We got to the place and James smiled. He took me by the hand and led me towards the restaurant. We were still in the parking lot, when I heard a familiar voice.

“You have terrible taste, James.” Troy said.

“Troy, what are you doing here?” James asked.

“I guess I couldn’t just leave well alone.”

“This is starting to get creepy, Troy. I’m asking nicely, please, go home and don’t follow us again.” I said.

“Gladly. Just, I have something for you, Liz. You should come get it.”

James held my hand, but I gave it a squeeze and went to Troy. I didn’t really know what this was about, but then headlights turned bright behind us, and a truck came speeding at James and hit him full force. He went over the roof and hit the ground with a nasty thud.

I screamed but then Troy grabbed me and I wanted to fight, I wanted to call for help but Troy’s grip was strong and he didn’t let go and I was terrified.

James didn’t move.

He had to be dead. There was blood all over his face his arm was contorted in an impossible angle.

But then bones cracked back into place and James got up and his eyes were blood red and he snarled.

He shouldn’t have gotten up, he should have been fighting for his life but there he was, on his feet.

Troy let me go, and his smiled turned serious.

“That’s the real reason I couldn’t tell you. You wouldn’t believe me. You’d think I was crazy. What he is… What he made me into… We’re monsters, Liz.”

“What the fuck…?”

“I’ll fucking kill you!” James yelled, and then he was on Troy. Troy pushed him off, and smashed James’s head into a window.

“How’s Mary-Anne? She’s fast, but I’ll tell you, those freak accidents are hard to avoid, even for people like us.”

“You little bitch! Had to let someone else do all the hard work for you! Fight me like a man, Troy!”

“You’re not a man, James. You’re a predator.”

James got in a shot and I heard a rib crack. Troy, cursed, and then James was on him. James had Troy by the back of his head and smashed his face into the pavement. Troy yelp but then went limp.

The truck was back, and it shone its headlights right into our eyes. James took his eyes of Troy and Troy broke James’s grip.

There was a door slammed and then the truck drove off.

As it sped away, I turned to James, who was no angry and rabid.

“That cowardly fucking fruit! I’ll kill him!”

“James, please… You’re scaring me…”

“Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck _fuck fuck_!”

“James!” I shouted.

He snapped out of it, and started to calm down. James wiped his face, and regained his composure.

“Sorry.” He simply said. He looked like he was counting to ten in his head.

“James, what is going on…? How are you even standing right now…? I don’t understand, please, help me understand.”

“There are some things I haven’t told you, Liz. Stuff that’s hard for normal people to understand.”

“What are you…?”

“I’m… Well, I’m a fucking vampire.”

“James…”

“I didn’t want you to find out this way…”

“Did you turn Troy into a vampire…?”

“It’s what he wanted. Or so he thought.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“Liz…”

“I need to go.”

“Liz!”

“Don’t… Just… Don’t. If you care about me, James, please just… I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”

I ran off, not really knowing what’d come of it. What’d come of any of this. It just seemed like I had enough demons without the people around me also being some of them.


	9. Chapter 9

I eventually found my way home. Mom fell asleep waiting up for me, and I found a blanket to cover her.

I sat next to her for a spell.

I wanted to tell my mom everything. Everything that just happened. I wanted to shake her, wake her up, tell her everything. But… I’d put her through so much already. And what could she do? The monsters were real.

It’s not a world I wanted my mom to live in.

Mom shifted and mumbled, not really waking. I decided to turn the light off and let her be. It felt like my life was spiralling again, just after we’d started to figure it out.

What was I going to do? What could I do?

I walked upstairs, still confused and then, I opened my bedroom door.

And there he was.

James fucking Stepford.

I started to scream but I blinked and his hand was over my mouth. He gave me an intense stare and I felt a tear start to well up in my eye. Was he here to kill me? Was he here to hurt me? Here he was, in my bedroom, without my permission, without anyone knowing he was here.

He could get to me. At any time. And there was nothing I could do to stop him.

James started talking then.

“Please don’t scream. I’m going to move my hand. We need to talk, and I need you to listen.” James said. He slowly took his hand off my mouth. I was trembling, holding back a sob.

“Look, I don’t know what you want from me…”

“I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

“Okay. Just… Please. Don’t hurt my mom. Do whatever you want to me, just don’t hurt my mom.”

“Liz, I don’t want to hurt you. Or your mom. I just want to talk.”

“You broke into my house.”

“It couldn’t wait.”

“You’ve been waiting for me, in my room.”

“Yes, I have. But it was the only place I knew you’d come back to.”

“James, you’re scaring me.”

“I just want to talk.”

“Okay, talk. Then get out.”

“I really don’t want to hurt you, Liz. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, and that you don’t get the wrong idea about me.”

“Troy tried to warn me. About you. About what you are.”

“Troy doesn’t understand anything. Liz, please, it’s me. I’m still the same person.”

“Who is that, even? I don’t recognize you, James! I don’t know who you are and apparently I’ve never even known _what_ you are.”

“Would you have believed me if I told you?”

“It’s pretty easy to prove, apparently.”

“Look, Liz… It’s just not the kind of thing you can just drop on someone on the first date. I wanted you to trust me first. I need you to trust me. You know what I am, you know what I can do. But I’m not going to hurt you.”

“How am I supposed to believe that? How can I trust you, James? I asked you not to follow me and the first thing you do is break into my bedroom.”

“I know how this looks, but just listen to me, Liz…”

“Please, James, if you really mean me no harm… Leave. Leave for real. Don’t wait outside my house, or try ambush me… Let me process this. In my time. Please.”

“Liz, I care about you. I just need you to know that. I hope you’ll see that I’m just looking out for you. ”

“I don’t know what to do with that. James, _please_.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

“I… I get that. I’ll call you, okay? Just give me some space.”

“I can do that.”

James left out the door then. He really did seem so sincere. I wanted to believe him, despite my instincts screaming out at me that James was bad news.

He had a hold on me, though.


	10. Chapter 10

Three days went by before I could even go back to school. It was terrifying. I kept waiting for James to jump out at me, and eat me alive. I even had a nightmare about it.

But I was starting to have questions. Questions I needed answers to.

I finally worked up the nerve to do it. I called James.

“Hey.” I said.

“Hi.” He answered.

“I think we should talk.”

“Are you ready to listen?”

“I just… I have a lot of questions.”

“If you want, you could meet my family. For real this time.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Are they all like you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are any of you even related?”

“Not really, no.”

“How would I know that I’m safe?”

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“That doesn’t really do much for me.”

“You could bring a wooden stake, if you’d like. Get yourself a Scooby Gang.”

“Buffy had kick-ass vampire slaying powers, I’m a featherweight and I don’t think pepper spray will keep me safe.”

“I haven’t done anything to hurt you as of yet. I’ve adhered to your wishes. Have I given you a reason to distrust me?”

“No, but… I dunno, it’s not like I’m being paranoid over nothing. You’re a fucking vampire, James.”

“And if I wanted to hurt you, I would have already.”

“I suppose…”

“How about this, I’ll leave a standing invitation; If I get a call and it’s from you later tonight, I’ll come pick you up. If not, I can take a hint. We can go our separate ways. Sound reasonable?”

“Yeah… Yeah it does. Why are you being so reasonable? Like, why me?”

“You’re interesting. Besides, from a purely utilitarian standpoint, you already know what I am. Would be a pain to start over with someone new.”

“Yeah. I think I get it.”

“I’ll await your call.”

“James?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll come. You don’t need to wait.”

“You sure?”

“No, but… I guess things have already gotten this far.”

“I see.”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For being… Agreeable.”

“I’m not so bad, am I?”

“I’m starting to think you’re more Twilight than Fright Night.”

“Well, you better hold on tight, spidermonkey.”

“I hate you. I actually hate you. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Until then.”

James really could be charismatic when he wanted to be. And it really did seem like it was going to turn out to be like one of those romance novels. I’d go see his family and we’d figure everything out and it’d be nice.

Maybe some of us just don’t get to live those stories.


	11. Chapter 11

James came in his Cadi again, and my mom mercifully only gave him a knowing look. We got in the car and let the radio play some. Eventually I couldn’t hold my own curiosity.

“So like, you don’t burst into flames when the sun comes up.”

“Nope.”

“Garlic?”

“No pizza is complete without it.”

“Wooden stakes?”

“Actually work. Not much would survive being impaled. Has to be in the heart, though. Never really understood why.”

“Silver?”

“Depends on which outfit.”

“Do you have to be invited in?”

“Nope. But who’d turn down this pretty face.”

“Do… Do you have to drink blood…?”

“Ah. Well, yes.”

“What happens if you don’t?”

“I look decidedly less handsome.”

“That’s it?”

“Up to a point I become stronger and more primal. If I starve long enough I lose my strength, lose the ability to heal. I won’t die but I become fragile. Most of us try not to become starved. Most minds can’t recover from that kind of trauma. At that point, we really do devolve into hungry animals.”

“Kind of sounds like there are a lot of perks and not a lot of downsides.”

“I mean, the process of becoming like me is pretty painful.”

“Yeah?”

“To become a vampire, you must feed and be fed on by one, until you die. Then, you must drink the blood of a human. Your first victim never survives. It’s not something you agree to lightly.”

“You… You’ve killed someone…?”

“A lot of people.”

“That… Kind of scares me.”

“Try not to. Brings attention to us. These days it’s cheaper to just pay someone, or drink from them at a party. Some people get so coked up they don’t even realize what’s happened to them.”

“Troy called you a predator.”

“I suppose I am.”

“Troy… Troy is like you. He’s a vampire too.”

“Banal little Troy. Tries to eat animals and cling to humanity. It’s rather exhausting.”

“Did you turn him?”

“It’s what he wanted.”

“Did he kill someone…?”

“He was adamant it be someone deserving. We found him a drug dealer or a rapist or someone like that. Can’t really remember. I suppose it was too much for him. He didn’t think it through. Now his conscience haunts him and he haunts me.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“The last two years, I suppose. Although he’s getting bolder. The attack in the parking lot was a ballsy move. We might have to deal with him.”

“What does that mean, James?”

“He’s trying to kill us, Liz. What do you think?”

“There has to be a way to solve this without people getting killed.”

“Sometimes, there really isn’t. That’s the world we live in.”

“I don’t know if I want to be a part of that.”

“Well, you have the whole night to decide.”

The car trip was pretty quiet from then on ought. It kind of felt like an eternity until we got to his house. The more time that passed, the more unsure I was. James and I finally drove up that long driveway, and I was afraid it might be for the last time.

James opened the door. James’s family were all there, standing around. Helena was trying her hardest to pretend she wanted to be here, Butch was scrambling for something to say, Mary-Anne didn’t even bother trying to look like she was happy… Only Charlie stood composed, as usual.

“So, yeah, I guess there were suckier ways to find out about all this.” I tried to break the ice. For a moment, everyone tensed up a bit, but then the air cleared.

“We’re glad to see you again, Elizabeth.” Charlie smiled. He used my first name this time, which made me feel a lot more welcome. Charlie even seemed more accommodating.

“Well, Liz, this is my family. The Stepford vampires.”

“Not really what I was expecting. A part of me was kind of scared I was invited to dinner because I was the main course.” Liz smiled.

“Oh, darling, if that were the case you’d already be on the table.” Helena laughed.

“Besides, we like you, Liz.” Butch smiled.

“You are one of the more agreeable of James’s playthings.” Mary-Anne laughed.

“Yet again, not a plaything. Thanks, though. For not eating me. I guess.”

“You’re very welcome. We do have to eat something, though. How about we all get ready for dinner.” James smiled.

And so we did.

The Stepfords prepared an incredible table. More food than I think I’d ever even seen on one dinner table. I never did ask how they made their money but I figured they were probably pretty well off. We all sat down and there were more pieces of cutlery than I knew what to do with.

“So, like, okay… This might be weird question, but… How old are you all?”

“Depends what you mean. We’re people frozen in time. Technically none of us have aged since the day we turned.” Butch said, a little bit of sadness in his voice.

“I suppose we were all frozen at a certain age, but we’ve lived long lives. I was turned by Charlie at age 28, but I’m 42 now. Butch is only 37 but we found him when he was 31. Mary-Anne is the youngest, found at age 17 but has lived to 22. Charlie was turned at age 46 but he’s actually 107.” Helena smiled.

“And James?”

“You sure you want the answer to that?” James laughed.

“I’ll try my best to cope.”

“I was frozen at 16, but I’m 49.”

“You’re older than Helena?” I said, blushing.

“I was the first person Charlie turned.” James smiled.

“Wow, okay. That’s… A lot to take in. What have you guys been doing for all that time?”

“We drift around. Move when people notice we haven’t aged. Forge documents, become new people.”

“So wait, are those even your real names?” I gasped.

“We are who we need to be. It’s a matter of survival.” Charlie said.

“That sounds kind of… Sad. Changing your names and stories all the time.”

“Keeps living from getting stale. We have long lives, we might as well do something with them.” Charlie smiled.

“So… If… If James and I were together… Does that mean he’d have to leave one day?” I asked, suddenly afraid of losing James.

“Well, we’d inevitably have to move along. But one day, if this life seems a good fit… You would have to make the same choice we made.”

“To become a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“But… James said I’d have to kill someone.”

“That is correct.”

“I don’t know if I could do that.”

“This life isn’t suited for everyone.”

“You all did chose this?”

“Some of us didn’t have any better options. Wealth and power over being ruled by cruel men. An escape from a cycle of poverty. Disease and pain. The life of the unworthy is a small price to pay.” Helena said.

“I see. Sorry, didn’t mean to imply anything. I just don’t know if I could do that.”

“Most don’t. Killing is easy. Living with the consequences is had.” Charlie said.

“Do you regret it?” I asked James.

“Not for a second.” James smiled.

The rest of the night went on pleasantly. Eventually James and I left, so he could drive me home. We paused outside his car.

“So? How was that?”

“Nice. Really nice, actually.”

“It could always be like that. If you want. You can become one of us.”

“Are you asking me to turn…?”

“Well, nothing that rash. I want to be with you, Liz.”

“Oh. You’re… Oh.”

“It might get a little crazy, but I want us to be together. Make a new future out of all of it.”

“You wanna be with me despite knowing I’m the girl who slept with her best friend’s boyfriend. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“I wanna be with you because you’re you. You aren’t your past, Liz. I see the person you are, here and now, and that’s who I want to be with.”

“That’s… I… That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me in a long time. I wanna be with you too, James. It just feels like I’ve been dog piled on for so long that it’s hard to accept that someone just… Wants to be with me.”

“It doesn’t always have to be that way.”

“I think I have feelings for you, James.”

“Be mine.”

“I… I want to.”

James wrapped his arms around me. I knew what was coming next and I couldn’t wait, so I cupped his cheek and kissed him as deeply as I could. It felt… Good. Warm. Intense.

The world stopped spinning for just a second as he pulled me closer and I melted into him. James had me, and I gave myself to him willingly.

I know, I know. You’re probably wondering, is there really anything so wrong with this? I didn’t think so either. It was… Everything I could ask for. He was beautiful and good to me and his family treated me well.

I wish the story ended there. It doesn’t. Everything was about to go all wrong.


	12. Chapter 12

I said goodbye to James at the door, and kissed him one last time. It all really felt like it could work out.

The house was dark, and I heard James pull off. I really wondered if I should even tell my mom about any of it. She’d worry herself to death, probably. Mom was just trying to look out for me.

It registered with me that it wasn’t all that late. I flicked the lights on and the living room was a little bit of a mess. Maybe Mom had just misplaced something, I thought.

I followed the mess to the kitchen, dark as it was.

There… Was a smell. Rancid and strong. It hit me like a truck as I stepped into the darkness.

When I turned the light on, there my mom was.

Dead.

On the kitchen floor.

Knife still in her bleeding neck.

It took me a while to process the image. I stood there for a few seconds, trying to fit the pieces together. Yes, that was my mother. And yes, that was also the corpse of a human being.

But for a second there, I just couldn’t connect that my mother was now just a corpse.

That would mean someone came in and killed an innocent woman. A woman who worked hard to provide her daughter with a good life. A woman who raised a child all by herself and never complained once and sacrificed and sacrificed and sacrificed but somehow always found time to smile and look on the bright side. Someone snuffed out a light that bright, on purpose, for no reason.

But then it hit me.

My mom was dead.

Someone killed my mom.

Someone killed my mom and left her here and now she was dead and I was alone and there weren’t words for how little sense it all made.

My mom was dead, and I didn’t even get to tell her how my date went.

Involuntarily I let out a scream, and then came tears, and then I collapsed next to her but then her blood got on my knees and hands and I screamed more and then I sobbed and my mom was dead and no one was there and her neck was ripped open and I was crying and…

And what was I supposed to do?

Call the police?

Could they do anything?

My mom wasn’t hurting anyone. My mom didn’t have enemies. She just had me. And now she was dead.

I began sobbing on the floor now. Just holding my mom’s face, and thinking of all the shit I put her through and how I never once thanked her. Not for being so understanding. Not for driving me to the clinic, not for giving me a fresh start, not for reserving judgement… I never thanked my mom. The most understand person in the world.

And now she was dead.

There was a knock at the door, but I didn’t answer it. I didn’t care. After a pause, the knocking came again.

“Is anyone home?” The voice said. It was familiar. There were more knocks, then the voice spoke again.

“Liz? Liz, it’s Troy. Look, I don’t like how we left things, I just… I wanted to make sure you’re okay. Please, Liz, before it’s too late. Can we talk?” Troy said, from the door.

I was still lying with my mom.

My mom was dead. It wasn’t fair.

“Liz? Liz, I smell blood. I’m coming in.”

The door was still open so Troy rushed in and he found me on the floor.

“Liz, what are you… Oh, oh God. Oh no. Liz. Liz, I am so sorry.”

“Please, go away, Troy.” I said.

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean what I said. I didn’t mean this was… I wanted to prevent…”

“Troy, please, just go away.”

“You can’t stay here.”

“I don’t care.”

“Liz, I need to get you somewhere safe.”

“Go away! Leave, Troy! You’ve been nothing but a nuisance and less than helpful and you’re not helping now! We’re not friends, I don’t even like you, and if you don’t leave now I’m going to scream.”

“Liz…”

“My mom is dead, Troy. Someone killed her. Please just… Go.”

“I… Understand. Look, just, I’m going to leave Rose’s number. Please call her. She’ll let you stay as long as you need and she won’t ask questions so please just… Whatever you do, don’t call them. Don’t call James.”

“Troy, fuck off!” I screamed.

He got the message that time. He paused, like he wanted to say something, but then wrote Rose’s number on the fridge and left.

Who did he think he was? Who did Troy think he was? I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill everyone. I was so angry and so sad and… Nothing made sense. Truth be told, since that day, it’s felt like my whole life went sour.

My phone rang, and I let it go to voicemail. I couldn’t really talk to anyone right now.

My phone rang again.

I wiped blood off on my shirt, and pulled it out of my pocket. It was James.

I thought, maybe I shouldn’t answer it. But I just wanted to hear his voice. I wanted someone to comfort me. I wanted someone to tell me it’s going to be okay. I wanted James to tell me it’d be okay.

“James?” I answered.

“Liz, I just wanted to say goodnight.”

“James…”

“Liz, is something wrong?”

“James, my mom is dead.”

“Christ, Liz, I’ll be over in just a sec.”

“Her neck is all ripped open.”

“Jesus, look, Liz, I’m coming. Please wait for me.”

“Why would someone come after my mom, James?”

“I don’t know, Liz, I’m coming. Everything is going to be okay, alright? Everything is going to be okay.”

“Okay.”

“Just wait for me.”

I believed him. I believed James when he said that.


	13. Chapter 13

James got there pretty fast. I didn’t really know what to do. I kind of just ended up staring at her for a while. I think I was still crying but if I was, I wouldn’t have felt it. A cold numbness was now at the pit of my stomach.

James wrapped his arms around me, in an attempt to comfort me. I was there, but I also wasn’t.

Just when I thought I could handle anything.

The self-loathing part of me thought I deserved this. That I deserved to feel the pain. The part of me that loved and knew my mom chastised me for thinking anyone deserves this. Those voices were so loud that in the end, I had to shove them all deep down until there was nothing.

Eventually police came over. They did their thing. Troy probably called them. I didn’t know, and I didn’t care.

Eventually I was present enough to catch some of what James was trying to say to me.

“You shouldn’t be alone tonight.” He said.

“What?”

“You should stay over. At mine.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“I’m so sorry this happened to you, Liz.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“We’re going to find who did this, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I won’t let anything else bad happen to you, Liz, I promise.”

“Can we go?” I asked him.

“Like, now?”

“I don’t wanna be here anymore.”

“Yeah. We should pack you a bag. I can do that. Do you just want to wait for me in the car?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be quick, yeah.”

I went to the car, and James followed some time after. The seats of the Cadillac felt harder, somehow. Nothing in the world felt as bright or as soft or as warm as it used to. Like there was a cold winter coming.

James started the car, and we drove back to his house. Some drastic thoughts started going through my head now.

“There’s a spare bedroom, near the study. You can sleep there, if you need the privacy.”

“Thanks.”

“Or… I mean, you could sleep in my room. I know I’d prefer to have you there. You just tell me what you need.”

“Doesn’t really matter. As long as I’m not sleeping in that my own house.”

“We’ll figure this out. Together. Things are going to be okay.”

“What if I wanted to become like you?”

“What?”

“What if I wanted to be a vampire?”

“Liz, that’s a serious decision to make. And you’re not exactly in the best place right now…”

“Humour me.”

“Liz…”

“Please.”

“Well… I’d have to feed on you. And you’d have to feed on me. I have to take more blood than you’d survive losing. If you don’t take enough from me, you will die.”

“And then?”

“Usually you pass out for a couple hours, then you wake up really hungry.”

“And then I have to drink human blood?”

“Straight from the neck. You’ll just stay hungry if you don’t.”

“And that’s when I’d kill someone?”

“In all likelyhood.”

“And you can’t stop me from doing that?”

“With the force you’ll be using, any attempts I’d make to save that person would probably kill them. It’s possible but we’ve never gotten it right.”

“Why did Troy ask to be turned?”

“He got beat by his dad. Went pretty far one day. Asked me to do it.”

“Who did… Who did Troy end up killing?”

“Who do you think?”

“Sounds awful.”

“I suppose.”

“You think that’s why he hates you?”

“Maybe.”

“I wanna kill whoever did this to my mom.”

“Jesus, Liz.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe, but Liz… This kind of thing stains your soul.”

“I don’t care. I wanna kill them. Whoever they are. The person who did this. They don’t deserve to live. I want the power to do that.”

“Maybe we should talk about this in the morning.”

“Why did you turn, James?”

“A bad life.”

“That’s vague.”

“It was a long time ago. Not that different from yours, I suppose.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Not really.”

“You think I will?”

“I do.”

“Maybe we should talk about it in the morning, then.”

“Yeah.”

James and I sat in silence until we got home. Coming back here, after it was so cheerful… Now it just wasn’t.

Same people. I was the different one now.

I basically shuffled myself off to James’s bedroom as quickly as I could.

James joined me after a bit. He brought me a towel and dinner we both knew I wasn’t going to eat.

Lights went out and we went to bed and James threw an arm around me. I tried to sleep, I swear I tried. It just would not come.

I tossed and turned for a bit, then got up. I started to walk about, went to the kitchen. I looked up and there was a light coming from Charlie’s study. I figured maybe he couldn’t sleep either.

But I wasn’t really in the mood for talking.

I poured myself a glass of water, then heard… I heard heels. Moved towards the stairs and Helena walked out of the study.

Her lipstick was a little smudged, and she wiped something off her chin. Helena straightened her skirt, then spotted me.

Of course I put together what was going on. She knew I knew. My eyes were wide and suddenly I wanted to be anywhere else.

“I thought were sleeping in James’s room.” She smiled.

“Couldn’t sleep.” I said, my throat going dry.

“You should go to bed.”

“Look, it’s none of my business but- ” she cut me off.

“It is none of your business. So don’t say anything if you don’t want to fucking die.”

“What if I do?”

“What?”

“What if I do want to die.”

“Don’t involve me in your suicidal tendencies. I don’t have time to humour that.”

“I want to be like you.”

“What?”

“Turn me. Or I’ll tell.”

“Are you fucking serious right now?”

“Deadly.”

“You understand that I could twist your dumb little head off your tiny body before you could open your mouth?”

“I doubt James would be too happy about that.”

“Look, I get that your mother died so I’m going to let this slide, but don’t threaten me. I don’t respond well to threats.”

“I don’t care. I wanna find and hurt whoever killed my mom. You’re going to help me.”

“This isn’t cute.”

“I’m not trying to be cute.”

“Just like that? You don’t even care about what you’d be giving up?”

“My mother is dead! My mother is dead and despite the fact that my boyfriend has a family full of people with super human abilities no one could do anything so either help me or I’ll scream at the top of my lungs about whose cock you’ve been sucking.”

“Jesus, alright. But you do know what has to happen, right?”

“I know who I wanna kill.”

“Fuck it. Fine. Whatever. But we have a place for what has to happen.”

I followed Helena, rage fueling me. Helena and I went into the basement, past the wine cellar. There was a room there. Seemed like a closet but it had a bolted metal door. Like a prison.

“Do… Do you keep people in there?”

“Only the ones we don’t plan on letting go.”

“There are people like that?”

“There are those no one would miss. Drug dealers and gang bangers and white trash who get into fights and drink until they beat or rape their wives.”

“You only kill bad people…?”

“We try. Keeps prying eyes off us.”

“And me?”

“You’re going to be comatose for a few hours. You’ll probably want somewhere dark to sleep.”

“I thought sunlight couldn’t hurt vampires?”

“You’re going to be pretty light sensitive before your first feed. And this is what you want?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“Alright then.”

Helena undid her blouse and shoved me into the room. Her shoulders were exposed and she pinned me. Helena looked me in the eyes, and then I could see her fangs. Her eyes went bloodshot and her pupils dilated.

“Undress.”

“What?”

“Take of your shirt, idiot.”

“Oh.”

“And, remember, you have to feed on me too. And you’re going to have to bite pretty hard. You’ll die if you don’t.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I bet James wishes he could do this to you.” She smiled.

Then she bit me, and I let out a scream. It was so painful. She pulled me closer, grabbed me by the waist, and her fingernails dug deeper into me. I wanted to cry, but then I felt a little faint and my brain panicked.

I was going to die if I didn’t feel on her too.

I aimed for her neck and bit down hard, but not hard enough. I didn’t even break any skin. I tried again, and this time I succeeded, and she tensed up against me.

Her blood tasted like iron my mouth. It was bitter, and it made me tear up and gag. But I swallowed. I knew what was at stake. What would happen if I didn’t. I’d die like my mom, bleeding from the neck, having alienated everyone. Except my mom wouldn’t have to find my body.

A part of me wanted to just let Helena kill me then and there.

But the anger, the pain? That part made me bite into her harder, and harder, and I dug my nails into her skin, and she pulled me closer.

Then it all went black.


	14. Chapter 14

I woke up in the cellar, with Mary-Anne watching over me. She seemed a little too pleased with herself.

“Look at you, so eager. It took James forever to finally turn me. How’d you get Helena to do it? What do you have on her?”

“Fuck off, Mary-Anne.”

“Did you like it? Being skin to skin with her? Shirts off, pressed up against each other… I bet you got all wet.”

“Are you done? Of all the bitches in the world I could wake up next to.”

“Oh, you’re going to want to be real nice to me, pumpkin. I’ve got the key to let you out of here.”

“Then let me out.”

“No can do, chief. James’s orders, can’t let you out of my sight.”

“Fuck you, Mary-Anne, let me out.”

“So you can eat the first person you see? We’ve worked a little too hard to keep a low profile.”

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Don’t threaten me.”

“Get out of my way.”

“Make me.”

I rushed at Mary-Anne, but she was so incredibly fast. She smashed my forehead against the brick wall. I fell, clutching my face and broken nose, when she stomped on my ribcage, breaking several.

I screamed, and cried out in pain.

It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. It was excruciating. I felt a shard puncture something inside me but I also felt it healing, almost immediately.

My nose healed itself too, cracking back into place, but Mary-Anne had made her point.

She could hurt me.

And she could keep hurting me, over and over again.

“Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up, you _dumb little bitch_. I thought James’s fascination with you was because you’d be a fun play thing but you’re turning out to be a royal pain in my ass. I’d put you out of your misery, if I had my way, but he likes you for some reason. So you’re going to be a good girl, right? I don’t have to break your pretty face again, do I?”

I stayed quiet. I didn’t want her to break anything else.

“Now I don’t like repeating myself, so listen closely. Try that again, and I will kill you. I don’t care that your mom died, I don’t take shit from little kids who should know their place. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” I mumbled. She grabbed my by the hair, and made me look her in the eyes.

“Do you understand?” She said, glaring at me this time.

“Yes.” I said.

Mary-Anne dropped me, and opened the door. She let herself out, and locked me in.

I think that was about the moment I’d started to figure it out. What Troy had been trying to tell me. The underbelly of the Stepfords. The darkness that hid beneath the big house and nice cars and pleasant mannerisms.

In that moment I hated Mary-Anne. I hated her more than anyone. She beat me, humiliated me, threatened to kill me... But she was at least honest. She didn’t hide it. She called me a plaything to my face. She didn’t tell me that she cares about me first.

James came down after some time. He was ruffled, clearly in a mood. I was still picking myself off the floor when he swung the gates open.

“What the fuck were you thinking?! Are you insane? Helena could have killed you, I have half a mind to do it myself!” He growled.

“Stop yelling.” I said.

“On top of that, she turned you. That’s not how that was supposed to happen, I didn’t want you to turn yet!”

“Stop yelling!” I shouted. James was visibly stunned, but then tried to start again.

“Listen, Liz I-”

“No, James, you listen, I decided on this, I did this, and I don’t need your permission to make decisions! If this is a mistake then I will take responsibility for my actions but you need to step the fuck back and stop yelling at me right this second before one of us says something we can’t take back.”

“You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“I’ll figure it out. Let me go.”

“There is no way I’m letting you out of here.”

“Are you serious right now? You can’t just keep me captive.”

“This part is for your own good.”

“The only thing that’ll be good for me is to kill the man who killed my mom.”

“I told you we’d find him, Liz.”

“I can’t wait!” I yelled.

“Liz…”

“Maybe you haven’t been human in a while but what I’m feeling? This pain, this anger? It doesn’t just go away. And every second you waste not letting me out, the person who did this gets further and further away.”

“Liz, please, let me handle this. Let me do this for you. This part doesn’t have to be something you do by yourself. We can take care of this for you. All you have to do is be patient.”

“Can you guarantee me you’ll find them, whoever they are?”

“I give you my word, you’ll face the person responsible before the end of the day. Just wait a little longer.”

“I’ll go insane in here.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure you aren’t left alone.”

“I’d… I’d rather you didn’t leave me with her.”

“Who? Mary-Anne? Did she hurt you?” James’s eyes went cold.

“Look, it’s not that big a deal…”

“I’ll make sure she never touches you again.”

“Just… Let it go, okay? I’ll wait. You promise, before the end of the day?”

“I promise.”


	15. Chapter 15

James eventually came back. Everything felt cold, my body felt cold. The walls seemed to slowly close in on me.

James was dragging a man with him. There was a bag over his head.

I didn't know who this person was. He was a perfect stranger, and it just made me angrier. He didn't know us. Why would he try hurt my mom?

"This is the guy?" I asked. I was starving. The hunger was palpable.

"He is."

"You're sure?"

"It's him."

"You're not-..."

"I promise."

"Okay... Okay. Right. Take the bag off his head."

"Okay."

I looked him in his eyes. He had kind of a vacant expression. Like he wasn't fully there. I slapped him as hard as I can, and he yelped.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"The fuck should I tell you anything?" He asked and I smacked him again. Left a bright red mark on his face, but he didn't say anything.

"What's your fucking name?" I asked, and he gave me a dirty look. I raised my hand, but he flinched. He took a moment to compose himself, and spoke.

"Miles. Miles Carson."

"Do you know who I am?" I said, barely keeping my voice from trembling.

"I have no idea."

"I'm the daughter of the woman you killed."

"Killed a lot of folks." He said. Eyes glazing over a little.

"Her name was Aimee Chapman. She didn't do anything to you."

"That her name? I wouldn't know. Wasn't personal. Wasn't ever personal."

"It is to me! You sick motherfucker, you killed her, you killed her!"

I was bawling at this point, and despite the reservations I had... I stuck a thumb into his eye. I was going to kill him anyway. I might as well make it hurt. I might as well hurt him as much as I hurt. He screamed something awful, but I didn't care. I violently pulled his head to one side, and bit into him. As I did, I felt my fangs dig deep into his flesh.

At some point he went limp. I bit deeper, I pulled harder.

Then there was an ugly tearing sound.

I don't know when he died but I knew one thing.

I'd ripped his head clean off his shoulders.

I didn't know if this was what James meant, if this was inevitable.

But I did that. I didn't care.

His blood felt warm sliding down my throat. Blood tasted... Different. It was a little sweeter, a little more tart. Whereas all I tasted from Helena was iron, it felt like I was tasting life itself.

James stood there, watching in awe. Just watching me.

I had no idea what he was thinking. If he thought I was monstrous. Or if I suddenly wasn't what he wanted. Maybe I wasn't the plaything he tried to keep me as.

James came over to me, and cupped both my cheeks.

"That's my girl." He said.

I didn't expect that.

James looked me deep in the eyes. I stared back into his soft hazel eyes. It wasn't judgement or fear or anger. It was understanding. It was connection. It was affection. Was this what he wanted from me? Was this the girl he wanted to pull out of me?

He pulled me close, and kissed me deeply. I dropped Miles's head. It landed with a thud but I didn't care, kissing James felt so good. Each time he kissed me the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my body melted in his arms.

He pulled me so close I could feel his lust for me right through his jeans. I held on tight, I didn't want anything between us. I wanted him. I wanted his body. I wanted to fuck him. I wanted him to fuck me.

I pulled off his shirt and he ripped mine off my body. The need I had was primal. Animalistic. Inside me, I wanted him inside me.

Maybe it's for the best if I don't describe what happened next. Long story short?

We fucked.

After that, we collapsed, and after the room stopped spinning, I clung to him. I held on to him. I held onto James. My James.

I was hooked.

I was his.

He knew it.


	16. Chapter 16

For a week I didn’t go to school. Troy started blowing up my phone, but I ignored him. I was living blissfully with James. We’d mess around during the day, and we’d fuck at night.

Although, some nights… Some nights I’d cry. I’d cry for the mom I lost. For the mom I missed. I missed my mom so fucking much. I wanted to talk to her one more time. I wanted to tell her about how things were better now. I even wanted her to get flustered when she heard I was having sex. Or maybe she’d be happy for me. I don’t know.

I’ll never know.

I was a sobbing mess some nights. As much fun as I was having, I also felt guilty. I wasn’t supposed to be having this much fun. I was supposed to be miserable all the time. That’s what I thought, anyway.

For all the bad things that happened, I don’t know if I would have gotten through it all without James there.

A couple nights I got up again and I saw the light was on in Charlie’s study. I wondered if I’d catch Helena again. Not that I would judge, I’m no better than her.

Eventually Troy’s calling got too annoying. The phone rang, and I answered.

“Troy, stop calling.”

“Liz, listen to me.”

“I’m done listening, Troy.”

“You never called Rose, and I got worried, and-…”

“And nothing, Troy. Stop calling. I’m fine.”

“You can’t trust them, okay, Liz, you cannot let them do to you what they did to me.”

“Troy, you’re a spineless fucking wimp, you know that? All this power, all this strength. And you don’t do anything with it. You just irritate everyone. You irritate me, you irritate my boyfriend. This is a warning, Troy. Leave them alone. Leave town. Go live your life, man. Enjoy being a vampire. Otherwise, if they decide you’re too irritating to ignore, I’m not responsible for what they do to you.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, they turned you, didn’t they? They had no right!”

“I decided this. I wanted this. Keep yourself out of our business, Troy.”

“Liz, please…”

“Goodbye. Don’t call me again, I mean it, Troy. Tell Rose thanks for the offer. I made other plans, though.”

I hung up on him. God, now that I knew what it felt like? Troy was more annoying than ever. Sex felt better, more visceral. Food tasted better. And blood? It was like a drug. And it made me strong.

God, I loved the power it gave me. The strength. I could jump the height of buildings, and keep up with cars on a highway.

It felt great.

There was just one problem, I guess.

Mary-Anne.

I think James talked to her. I think he said something because she has been glaring at me nonstop. Every time I walked into the room.

I felt myself starting to hate her back. And I never forgot. I never forgot it when she hurt me.

I wanted to hurt her back.

But she was family now. So I put it aside.

After that week was over, James and I decided it’d be best for me to go back to school. Keep up appearances.

Charlie sorted it out with Social Services. Seemed like he was pretty good at finding his way through legal matters. I didn’t ask, I’d rather stay with the Stepfords than end up in the system. My dad was long since out of the picture. Never knew him, didn’t want to.

James and I. It felt utopian.

We went back to school, and he drove me in the Caddy. We went in, and it felt like we were the king and queen. Like we were just better than everyone.

People gave us looks at first, but things went to normal soon.

Lunch came, and James, Mary-Anne and I hung out by the bleachers. Mary-Anne at least acted civil around James.

James lit a cigarette, and I stole it from him. He pretended to be mad, but I kissed him and took a drag. He lit one for himself.

Just to sour my mood though, Troy showed up. James and Mary-Anne tensed up, ready for a fight, but I put a hand on James’s shoulder.

“Troy? What are you doing here.”

“Last ditch attempt. You’re still hanging around with them?”

“You’re a broken record, Troy.”

“You’re better than them, Liz. Don’t sink to their level.”

“Troy, I’m this close to kicking your ass myself. You need to leave us alone. I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.”

“Man, what did he do to you?”

“Seriously, Troy, fuck off.” I said, and sat down. Troy took a deep breath.

“You heard the lady.” James said.

“You’re a pig, James. Not just a pig, a predator.”

“If you have a problem, Troy, we can sort it out, right here, right now.”

“And mess up that hair you worked all morning on? Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“What should do is rip your head off your scrawny neck. That stunt you pulled hurt, and I haven’t forgotten. Liz has a soft spot for you, which is the only reason I haven’t pulled your heart out of your chest.”

“You’re too much about being careful. The threats don’t work on me James.”

“You’re not careful enough. It was that Rose girl, in the car, that night. Am I wrong?” James smiled, and Troy went pale.

“She’s got nothing to do with this.” Troy said.

“She better not. Because you keep getting involved, and if you don’t stop, I’m coming for her first, then I’m going to make you look at the head I tear off her body when I tear your head off yours. So, for the last time, Troy. Fuck off. You hear me? All bets are off now. Fuck off.”

“I hear you.”

Troy left, tail between his legs. As much as it felt like a victory, my heart sank to my stomach.

“James, you’re going to leave that girl alone, right?”

“Why, what’s she to you?”

“James, she shouldn’t be involved in this. I don’t know why she is but she’s just another normal kid. Promise me, if you go after Troy, you’ll only go after Troy.”

“Yeah, alright. Fine.”

“I’m serious, James. Don’t hurt her.”

“Okay, okay, I hear you.”

Mary-Anne rolled her eyes, and bell rang for class.

“Another day in this fuckin institution.”

“It’s less annoying when you’re around.” I said. I was a little shocked at myself but James laughed.

“Yeah, it is. Guess we should head to class.”

“Go ahead. I wanna finish my cigarette.”

“Alright. Don’t be too much of a bad girl without me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Enjoy your fag.” Mary-Anne rolled her eyes, and walked off. James raised and eyebrow, but smiled, and went after her. I watched them walk off.

I put out my cigarette. I did have an ulterior motive, I wanted to talk to Rose. I had to tell her to stay away from Troy.

I started looking around the school, but couldn’t find her. Eventually I texted her, and seemed like she was in class. I told her to make up an excuse. Meet me in the girls bathroom. Just had to talk to her.

I waited, and she showed up. Her hair was all cut off now, completely bald.

“Troy told me you went kind of dark side.”

“You need to stay away from Troy.” I said

“Seriously? That’s what you got out of all this?”

“James knows it was you in the car. Look, he promised me he wouldn’t touch you but I don’t know how eager he’s going to feel about keeping that promise if you and Troy keep fucking with him. Troy has a death wish. I don’t want that for you.”

“Liz, I’m going to be real frank with you.”

“Yeah?”

“I think you’re fucking stupid.”

“No, don’t hold back, tell me what you really think.”

“Because either you’re incredibly fucking stupid, or James Stepford has somehow made you dumber than you really are.”

“Okay, what the fuck?”

“But you know what, in your defense, Troy can barely protect himself, let alone anyone else. So I’m going to tell you something. I found out what really happened.”

“I know, Troy and James used to be friends, Troy came onto James-…”

“No, not the bullshit James is feeding you. What really happened.”

“What?”

“They were together, Liz. Troy and James were together. Troy got beaten, because his dad caught him and James.”

“What?”

“And James didn’t turn Troy because Troy asked, James turned Troy to save his life.”

“Okay, I don’t know why James would lie about that.”

“Because Charlie Stepford has been beating the shit out of James if he so much as blinked in the direction of another man.”

“What the fuck.”

“Charlie is the root cancer but it’s spread, Liz. James is Charlie but with all the internalized homophobia to boot. Mary-Anne is an actual killer, Helena is blindingly loyal to Charlie, and Butch is blindingly loyal to Helena. You are in a snake’s den. And they are going to eat you alive.”

“Look, I don’t know what Troy has been telling you-…”

“While I would love to say I finally pried the truth out of him, no, Troy only broke down and told me when I pieced that first bit about him and James myself. He’s carrying so much trauma and he’s been trying to save lives and I want nothing more than to put the Stepfords down like the rabid animals that they are.”

“Jesus.”

“So this is my warning. You’re either with them or with us, Liz. Thanks for trying to give me a heads up. But you are on the wrong side.”

“I don’t want us to be enemies.”

“Then don’t side with fucking monsters.”

“This was me trying, Rose. To keep the peace.”

“They’re going to turn on you. You have my number for when they do.”


	17. Chapter 17

After talking with Rose and waiting for the day to end, James, Mary-Anne and I went home together. Lots of feelings started to blend in with one another. I didn’t know what was happening. What to believe. I needed to talk to him. I needed to talk to James.

After dinner, James and I went to his bedroom. I sat down on his bed, and motioned for him to sit next to me.

“James, can we talk?”

“Sure, Liz.”

“I’m going to ask you a question, and it might sound a little bad, but look, I just need to know, okay?”

“Liz, what is it you wanna ask me?”

“Are… Are you gay?”

“What?”

“It’s okay if you are, just… Are you?”

“Don’t ever ask me that question again.”

“James, that’s not an answer.”

“Why are you questioning me now? We’ve been fucking for weeks, we’ve been together all this time and now you’re asking me if I’m a faggot?”

“What the fuck James? That is _not_ okay. Look, I know you’re upset but-”

“Was it Troy? Is he running his mouth? I told him I’d fucking kill him.”

“James, you need to calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!”

“And you need to stop yelling. I am not someone you yell at. Don’t yell at me.”

“I’ll yell at you if I fucking want! You’re the one questioning me and I’m the one who needs scolding? What the fuck Liz?”

“I’m asking you a question because I heard a story. I want to know the truth. Please, just tell me the truth.”

“Are you calling me a liar too? Who the fuck do you think you are, anyway?”

“James, please. Just take a breath.”

“I should kill that fruit and his dyke little friend too.”

“James, no. You aren’t hurting anyone. Look at me. You are not hurting anyone.”

“What, are you going to stop me?”

“I don’t want to fight you.”

“Oh that’s exactly what you want. You think now that you’re one of us you can put me in my place? You were nothing before me. Less than an ant.”

“I don’t like this side of you, James. Where is this coming from?”

“Don’t ever fucking ask me that question again, Liz. I don’t care what you’ve heard. Don’t you _ever_ question me again.”

“Excuse me, but exactly who do you think you’re talking to? I’m not some little girl you can just order around. If this big dog routine worked with Mary-Anne, it won’t work with me. You will respect me.”

He hit me for that. I tasted blood, and suddenly rage bubbled up inside me. Maybe it was anger leftover from my mom, maybe it was anger leftover from the beating Mary-Anne gave me. But something snapped. I shot James a filthy look, and shoved him so hard he broke his own book case.

That… Was a mistake.

James picked himself up and hit me again, this time, knocking me to the ground. I barely had time to register what happened when he was on top of me again, pinning me.

I think that’s when it started to dawn on me. The shit I got into. How bad it really was. Now I started to let the panic show. The fear show.

“James, no.”

James grabbed me by my hair and smacked my head down on the floor.

“James, stop.”

Then again.

“James, please.”

Then again.

And again, and again, and again.

My face was bloody. It hurt so bad. I was crying. It hurt more because it was coming from him. From James. From my James.

After thoroughly cracking my skull against the floor, James got off me. It was pretty murky from there. I faded in and out. James paced around the room and cussed and growled and ran his fingers through his hair. I didn’t know what to do. I began curling up into a ball, and I stifled my sobs. I didn’t know if he was going to hit me more if I cried out loud.

Eventually James left.

I didn’t move. I was too scared. I was in too much pain.

It was quiet. Time started passing.

I didn’t move.

I kept waiting for him to come back, waiting for the next blow to come.

I didn’t move for hours. No one came to check on me. To check on the noise. No one cared. It was just me, along, in a pool of my blood, with a beat up face and a skull that was trying desperately to mend itself.

I couldn’t stay.

I had to go.

I had to run.


	18. Chapter 18

I got up, and the sun was starting to rise. I snuck out, went past the pool. I went down the hill, but avoided the roads the cars drove on.

I kept going until I found a creek. I heard a noise.

Someone was skipping stones.

My heart sank into my stomach.

I tried not to make a noise, to sneak past. I didn’t know who was there but I knew everyone in the house was bad news. I got a bit when something cracked under my shoes.

“Who’s there?” The voice called out. I recognized it.

It was Butch.

I didn’t know what Butch’s damage was. Frankly, I was past caring. I wanted to run, I wanted to get away. But then the voice was right behind me.

“Liz? What are you doing out here?” He said.

Butch looked me up and down and then there was something in his face I couldn’t understand. Anger, pity, but… Resignation. Like some long painful truth had just been confirmed.

“I’m leaving. And you’ll have to kill me if you want to stop me.” I said. It almost seemed like it hurt him.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Jesus, Liz, look at you. Did… Did James do this?”

“Yeah.”

“Christ. Jesus fucking Christ.”

“I can’t stay, Butch.”

“They’ll hunt you down if you run, Liz.”

“They’ll kill me if I stay! Mary-Anne hates me, James is an abusive fucking asshole and Helena… Helena would kill me too.”

“Why would Helena want to kill you, Liz?”

“Because I know. And since I’m probably dead anyway, she’s been cheating on you, Butch. She’s been sneaking into Charlie’s study and they’ve been fucking.”

“I know.”

“What?”

“I know she’s been cheating on me. She doesn’t know I know. Or maybe she just doesn’t care.”

“Oh, Butch…”

“I… I love her. She keeps hurting me, but I love her.”

“Butch… That’s not okay.”

“I wish you didn’t know. She’ll kill you if I confront her now.”

“I don’t want to die. Butch, I don’t want to die and I don’t want to get hunted and I don’t want any of this, I just want to go home to… Well, no one now! My life is a fucking mess!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.”

“No it’s not! I was the reason we moved here, I ignored all of Troy’s warnings, I’m the one who made Helena turn me… All of this is my fault.”

“You didn’t kill your mom, you made the best decisions with the information you had and you were angry and made a rash decision. I get it. I’ve been there.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just think people should be nice to each other. Or try to be, I guess.”

“You’re not like them.”

“I have skeletons too. I’ve also done bad things.”

“But you’re not a bad person.”

“I’m plenty bad. You know why I turned?”

“Why?”

“I fell in with a group of skinheads. Charlie came and took one of our boys. I tracked him down and tried to kill him. He beat me within an inch of my life, then took me home so the family could feed on me. Helena was the only one who took pity on me. Charlie let her keep me as a plaything. Sure, she fed on me, but she set me straight. Let me read, fed me, took care of me. I fell in love. Tried to be better. Turned so I could be with her.”

“You should come with me. We should leave together.”

“I couldn’t do that. Not to her. I can’t leave her with them.”

“She’s cheating on you.”

“I still love her.”

“I’m not going to beg you, Butch. I don’t have time, I don’t… I can’t stay. I need to go.”

“I’ll cover for you.”

“Butch…”

“Maybe… Maybe I’ve been complicit in all this for too long.”

“Don’t stay. Come with me.”

“I think I need to confront some things. I hope you find peace, Liz.”

“Thank you.”

“Until we meet again.”

Butch turned, and walked towards the house. I ran further. I ran as fast as I could, head healed, face less de-arranged.

Town was so far. They lived so isolated. But I got there. I eventually got there. I got close to the main road and then I saw it. The town.

I’d never been so happy to find the place.


	19. Chapter 19

Luckily I still had my phone in my pocket. I ran home.

Rose’s number was still on the fridge. I dialled it, tears in my eyes.

“Hello?”

“Rose?”

“Liz?”

“I am so sorry.”

“Liz, are you okay?”

“No. I’m not okay, oh my god, I’m not okay.”

“Hey, talk to me. Where are you now?”

“At home. My house.”

“You need to get out of there. I’ll send you an address. Meet us there.”

“Us? Troy’s still alive?”

“You sound surprised. Why?”

“James wants to kill him. I asked him about what you told me and he flipped. He’s coming after you too, Rose. We need to leave town.”

“Calm down. Meet me at that address, and we’ll figure it out from there.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know. Just stay calm. Everything will be okay. Meet us there, yeah?”

“Okay.”

“We’ll wait for you. See you soon.”

The address came almost immediately. It was for an apartment on the shadier part of town, but I went there. Seedy motels surrounded the place, and you could tell from the door that the room wasn’t in the greatest of shapes.

I knocked, and I saw the curtain at the window shift a bit. The door opened, and Rose saw the blood on my face and hugged me.

“Christ, come in here.”

Troy was at the window, visibly anxious. His shoulders dropped a little when he saw me.

“Liz, I am so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“I should have done better. This is all my fault.”

“There’s plenty of blame to go around, Troy.”

“You are not at fault. You’re their victim. I am so sorry.”

Troy and Rose both hugged me, and I didn’t get it before but it finally clicked that I had somehow made friends. Despite repeatedly ignoring their warnings, despite the way I treated them… They never gave up on me.

“We’ll get those fuckers, okay?” Troy promised.


	20. Chapter 20

I woke up after sleeping for nearly twelve hours. Rose and Troy kept watch over me, but they clearly had plans of their own.

I woke up and finally took the room in. There was a whiteboard on the wall with a map of the town, and pictures of the Stepfords. It looked like one of those crime boards you see in cop shows. Although a little lower fidelity, with whiteboard marker used to connect the pieces rather than string.

I caught them just staring at it, like they were looking for some missing piece. They didn’t notice I was awake until I spoke.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you two had a hit list.” I joked. Rose and Troy turned to me, but they didn’t laugh.

“We do.” Troy said.

“We should probably talk about what happens next, Liz.”

“What do you mean? There’s no next, we can’t fight them. The last fight I was in was in middle school.”

“Liz, they aren’t going to stop. You aren’t their first victim, and you won’t be their last.” Troy said.

“Even if they didn’t try recruit and groom, they still eat people.” Rose said.

“Troy and I have to drink blood.”

“You don’t have to kill for it.” Rose said. I clearly struck a nerve.

“We can survive on animal blood. Won’t keep us as strong as them but it’ll keep us going. It’s a little like going vegan, but tastes worse.”

“Is that what you do? I mean, why can’t we just have people blood?” I asked.

“Sometimes I do. You’d be surprised how many medical waste trucks have unusable blood bags.”

“So you never take from like, a person?”

“Not if I don’t need to. I also haven’t had years of practice kidnapping people and disposing of bodies. So it’s kind of the best option for me.”

“That kind of sucks.”

“It’s… Better than hurting people.”

“Yeah. Guess I just thought the whole vampire thing would be more… I dunno, fun?”

“It actually sucks a whole lot.”

“Immortality though.”

“I cannot begin to fathom the amount of paperwork we’re going to need to falsify. At some point, someone’s going to notice that we’re not aging.”

“We could just tell people. What’s the big deal?”

“There are people who hunt people like you and me.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Plus, announce your immortality to the government and, well, they’re going to want to use it. It’s likely that they’re holding a bunch of us at some black site this very moment.”

“That’s scary.”

“As far as I can tell, the vampires that there are try to keep to themselves. Quietly trying to live, feed and drift before anyone gets suspicious.”

“That’s depressing.”

“Yeah. It is. That’s without a group of rich and well-connected killers wanting you dead. If you wanna run, Liz… I won’t blame you. This is only going to get uglier and it’s escalated to a point where someone is going to have to die. It doesn’t have to be you. We’ll scrounge some money for a bus ticket and you can get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving without you.”

“We can’t leave. Not without finishing this fight.” Rose said.

“I get why Troy is fighting, but why you, Rose?”

“My dad was an addict. Lost his money, lost custody, lost… Everything. He was a prime target. I was there when they took him. Troy was the only reason they didn’t take me too. I doubt they even know they killed my dad.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I wish we were more candid with you. We didn’t know how to tell you any of this. It’s… Frankly it’s still hard to believe after all this time.” Rose said.

“I should have listened.” I said.

“Nothing we can do about that now.”

“If you guys are… If you’re seriously going to try take them on… I’m in.”

“We might lose, even with you. And what they did to you… It’s not even half of what they’re capable of. As much as we need allies, I don’t want to see you get hurt even more than you’ve already been.” Troy said.

“We’ve got to stop them.” I said.

And just like that, we were a team. A bunch of kids taking on the establishment. The Scooby Gang unmasking a villain.


	21. Chapter 21

I sat on the hood of my mom’s car, staring out at a lake. On the other side of it was the Stepford House. I wondered what was happening there.

I decided that I’d bait out James. Hopefully he wouldn’t suspect a trap. I’m alone, after all. I just wanted to talk, right?

Rose and Troy were hiding out further away. Troy knew he couldn’t pull the pickup trick twice so this time there he covered a sinkhole. We could trap James in there. A place to rot.

The Cadillac pulled up, and James got out, sunglasses on, smug look still on his face. He started walking towards me, but I didn’t want him in arms length.

“That’s far enough.” I said, and James stopped. He smiled, like he’d done nothing wrong.

“You ran out last night.” James said.

“You hurt me.”

“Would it help if I said I was sorry?”

“You’d have to do so much more.”

“Come home with me. We’ll get something to eat. Something real.”

“That is not going to happen.”

“Well, I’m willing to wait. As long as it takes.”

“You hurt me. Mary-Anne hurt me. Helena… Well, we aren’t on great terms either.”

“I still care about you.”

“Do you hurt people you care about? You cracked my skull open on the floor and left me bleeding and crying by myself on the ground. It’s going to take more than that, James. I don’t think there’s enough.”

“We have forever. And besides, where else are you going to go?”

“Anywhere but here.”

“I bet you planned on heading straight to Troy. It’s what I’d have done, if I was you.”

“You’re not hurting him. You’re not hurting anyone. Not ever again.”

“I bet you even had a plan. You and your little friends would lure me out here, by myself, and… Well, I don’t know. Troy would jump out the bushes, or there’d be another car waiting to run me over.”

This was the point where I knocked on the trunk. It was the signal to abort. Get out. My eyes widened. James was onto us. This was a bad idea. I had to keep him busy.

“You know what I like about you?” He said, as I was still scrambling.

“What?”

“You’re so predictable.” James smiled.

I heard a yell, and Mary-Anne and Helena came out the bushes, holding Troy and Rose. My heart sank deep this time, and I didn’t know what to do.

“We should just kill them all here, James. They’ve already made too much trouble for us already.”

“The fag and the dyke you can do whatever with, but not my Liz. I still have so much I wanna do with her.”

“James, you and this teeny bopper bitch was cute but you have me. You don’t need her. Let’s just kill her and go.”

“I want her with me. I’ll kill her when she becomes boring.”

“James, you don’t need her.”

“You know I adore you, Mary-Anne, but I’ll rip your jaw off if you keep fucking questioning me.”

“Okay, James.”

“That’s my girl.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I spat.

“Don’t be silly. Come now.”

“I’m not your toy. I’m not your plaything.”

“I _own_ you, Liz. You’re mine.”

“I’ll die before I let you take me.”

“God, you have such a little mouth on you.”

James grabbed me and he smashed my head through the windshield. The glass cut up my throat, and I writhed, choking on my own blood. James turned to walk to Troy and Rose.

Then he fell into the sinkhole.

Troy twisted and threw Helena into Mary-Anne. Rose went tumbling and Troy flicked his lighter open, and dropped it down the whole, which immediately caught fire. In my haze I heard James’s screams and Troy helped Rose up. Mary-Anne and Helena got up, and they were angry as hell.

I slowly pulled myself out but I was still holding my neck. Troy looked back at me. James’s screams stopped.

“Rose, help Liz and get out of here.”

“We’re not leaving you. We can take them.”

“Rose is hurt, you’re human, and I’m the best fighter we have. Take Rose and go.”

Troy stood and watched them circle.

He kicked up dirt into Mary-Anne’s eyes and went for Helena. Rose came for me and steadied me as we ran. Glass still stuck in my face and we heard the sounds of Troy fighting.

We ran.

I looked back just in time to see James pull himself out. Tears escaped because now… Now I was afraid. Now James had a real reason to come after me.

After this, he’d want me dead for real.

It scared the shit out of me.


	22. Chapter 22

After Rose and I ran away, James, Mary Anne and Helena took Troy away. We rand and ran until we couldn’t see or hear them anymore.

Rose and I went back to the apartment. She paced up and down and I buried my head in my hands.

“What the fuck are we going to do?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“He just took Troy. We couldn’t do anything about it. He just… Took him.”

“I know that.”

“Rose we’re… We’re out of our depth here.”

“I know! I know how shit this looks you don’t have to remind me!” She yelled.

“Sorry.” I whimpered.

“No, I’m sorry. I just… Troy and I were partners. I made the plans and he’d be the muscle. I’ve never done this without him.”

“Can we do this without him?”

“We’re going to have to.”

“Rose, maybe… Maybe we can’t win.”

“Are you saying we should just… Leave him?” Rose said, anger bubbling in her eyes.

“I want him back but… Fuck, Rose! We can’t win. We cannot win. I think we’re going to at least have to shift the goal posts.”

“I’m not leaving him.”

“Look, say we do rescue Troy, then what? We can’t stay here.”

“I’m not leaving him.”

“I know. But fighting the Stepfords isn’t an option.”

“So what then?”

“I think we try our best to save Troy and then, no matter what happens, we get the hell out of dodge.”

“We might die anyway.”

“We might just.”

“We need a plan.”

“You’re the one who came up with the ideas before. So treat me like I’m your Troy. How do you usually do it?”

“We start with whoever we think is the weakest link.”

“And you went for James?”

“We thought you would be enough leverage. We were wrong. James isn’t just smart… He’s cruel and uncaring.”

“James is out then.”

“Mary-Anne is too strong and unpredictable.”

“Butch.”

“He’s twice our size and he loves Helena.”

“Butch let me go. He’s the only reason I’m here. We can try him. We can talk to him.”

“I don’t know.”

“Let me. He’ll listen to me.”

“Okay. What’s the back-up if that goes south?”

“We play it Troy’s way. Start a fire.”

“I don’t think the sink hole trick is going to work twice.”

“A real one. We take an old junker from the scrap yard, load it with gasoline, set it ablaze. Right on their doorstep. Burn the whole house down.”

My phone rang. It was James.

“Should I answer it?”

“I don’t know.”

“What… Why would he call me?”

“Put it on loud.”

“James.” I said, answering it.

“Liz. Troy is a pain. You wanna come take him off my hands?”

“What?”

“Come alone, back to the house, and I’ll let Troy go. Minus a limb or two for damages.”

“You’re sick.”

“Don’t make me angry now, I wasn’t amused by that stunt you three pulled.”

“Why, James? It was so good between us. Why’d you turn and ruin everything like that?”

“Come now. You’re not still mad, are you? I’ve forgiven you.”

“You helped me avenge my mom, and took me in, and… Well, we had sex, James. Why? Why do this to me?”

“Just come home. We’ll forget all about Troy and his silly schemes. Things can be good again.”

“I don’t know if I want that.”

“What do you want?”

“I want all this to end.”

“Come. Tonight. Alone. I’ll pull Troy’s dumb little head right off his body if I so much as see his little dyke friend.”

“Don’t call her that.”

“What?”

“Don’t call her that. You have no right.”

“I can call the degenerates of this world whatever I want.”

“You pick that up from Charlie?”

“I’m my own man.”

“Seems like you’re afraid of him.”

“You don’t know a damn thing.”

“I’ll come. And you’re going to let Troy go. And we’ll settle this. Once and for all.”

“I’m inviting you for dinner, not a grudge match. Be a good girl and I’ll let the little queer go on his merry way.”

“I’ll see you then.”

I put the phone down.

“New plan? We burn the house down with them in it.”

“Jesus, Liz.”

“I hate him so much. I hate him so much, Rose.”

“I’m sorry, Liz.”

“I wanna kill him.”

“We’ll figure it out.”


	23. Chapter 23

I showed up the Stepford’s House once again. Rose and I had a plan.

It was like any other night. Good food, fancy wine, clean kitchen. Except Troy on the living room floor with knife in his skull and several broken limbs. His face was bloody and this one eye was red, the surrounding area covered in blood. It looked like James might have repeatedly poked his eye out.

I took a seat. James smiled at me. Like nothing was wrong. Everyone just sat there.

“Glad to have you back with us, Elizabeth.”

“Is that what we’re doing. Just, going on. Like nothing happened?”

“We invited you over for a meal. We’re not uncivilized.”

“My friend has a knife in his head and he’s bleeding all over your living room floor.”

“He needed to be taught a lesson. I hear he’s been giving James a foul time.”

“Fuck you. Fuck all of you.”

“Please, sit down, Elizabeth.”

“I will not.”

“Sit the fuck down before I pull your jawbone from your face, you are being incredibly rude.” Charlie said. I looked and there was an empty chair.

“Where’s Butch?”

“Who?” Charlie asked. Helena went pale. Charlie began eating his dinner.

“What did you do…? Oh my god, what did you do?”

“Butch is gone.” Helena said, quietly.

“He loved you. He worshipped you.”

“Sit the fuck down and eat your dinner before I hurt you, you worthless little slut.” Helena said.

“Now, I bet you’re wondering what we’re going to do with you. And with him.”

“I’m here. You said you’d let him go.”

“In due time. First, submit.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Submit to James like the woman you are.”

“That… Is not happening.”

“You have a choice, either you submit to him, or to me. I promise you I won’t be as gentle.”

“She’s mine.” James said, looking at Charlie.

“Eat shit. Both of you.”

“Submit. Don’t make us have to kill the fag to motivate you.” Charlie said.

“I promise you that one day, I’m going to eat both of your hearts.”

“James, break her before I have to.”

“You keep your fucking hands off her, Charlie. She’s not Helena.”

“Ex-fucking-cuse me?” Helena said.

“Yeah we all knew you’ve been blowing Charlie’s whistle behind Butch’s back. I don’t know which one of you I despised more. Him for being a little bitch or you for being a whore.”

“I don’t mind killing you here and now James.” Helena spat.

“You can try it.”

“Enough! James, do it!” Charlie yelled.

James gave Charlie a dirty look, then stood up. He put a hand on my shoulder and I shoved him off.

“No.”

James grabbed me by the neck and I shoved and he threw me against the floor. It was painful. The room started spinning.

James climbed on top of my and ripped my shirt. He started undoing my jeans.

I hate him, I hate him so much, I hate him so much, the motherfucker, the despicable fucking coward, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.

I hate him.

James pulled out his cock. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I was dazed and I tried to scratch him I clawed but he pushed my arms down and then I was crying and then I was begging.

James looked at me. He paused, on top of me, he…

He got off.

James got off. He put his cock back in his pants.

He looked at Charlie.

“This is fucked up.” He said, visibly crying. I pulled my pants up and scuttled back. I didn’t know what to do.

“You’re pathetic, James.” Charlie said.

“I’m not fucking doing that! And fuck you, you’re not going to treat me like that! You’re not going to turn me into you!” James said. Charlie got up from his chair, but kept a hand on it.

Then he smashed it over James’s head. James was bloody, and Charlie pulled a splintered leg and plunged it deep into James’s belly.

“Helena, bring me the other one. I want them to watch. I want them both to watch.”

“Charlie, are you really going to do this? Am I not enough?”

“I need to make men out of these girls. I’m so sick of living with their weakness. I thought James had finally grown a cock between his legs but he’s also just a weak little boy.”

“Charlie… I didn’t lose Butch so you can do this. I won’t be part of it.”

“Then fuck off to your room and don’t interrupt.” Helena walked off, tears in her eyes.

“I’m not going to be part of this either.” Mary-Anne said, and left.

Charlie dragged Troy to the centre of the room and pulled the knife from his brain. He pinned Troy to the wall through his shoulder, and the pain shocked Troy awake, despite his clear lack of cognitive function. Charlie waited, patiently for Troy to wake up, and I looked around for something, anything I could turn into a weapon.

“Liz…?” Troy eventually said. Charlie walked up to Troy and punched Troy in the gut, and an awful sound like bones breaking echoed through the house.

“You girls are going to watch what a real man does to a woman.”

“I’ll kill you if you touch her Charlie, I swear to god.” James threatened.

“You’re not man enough. You never were. Ever since I caught you two diddling each other. My boy, a faggot? I’d beat it out of you before then.”

“I’ll kill you, Charlie!” James yelled.

“Enough.” I said, and stood up. I looked Charlie in the eye and stepped up to him.

“Know your place.” Charlie said, and backhanded me across the room. My face was bleeding now. But it did what I needed it to.

Put me by the sliding door.

I turned and put my elbow through it, and it smashed into a hundred pieces.

“It ends tonight, Charlie. It ends and I’m going to put you down, you spineless pathetic coward. I’m going to kill you or die trying.” I said, smiling.

“The insubordination. Your generation really is just filled with degenerates and smartmouth bitches who don’t know their place.”

“Rather that than a limp dick power hungry patriarch so insecure about the size of his cock that he abuses women to make it feel bigger.”

Charlie came at me but I took the glass and stabbed. It wedged itself firmly in his arm, and I kicked at his crotch. Charlie caught it and punched me in the face for my torubles but then James was loose, and he drove the chair leg into Charlie’s back. Troy freed himself, and the commotion brought Helena and Mary-Anne back out.

Helena went for me but Mary-Anne just shook her head and walked out the door. James turned and back handed her, but she stood her ground and punched him in the throat, then slammed his head on the floor.

Troy came to and lunged with the knife, but Helena turned. She came for Troy but he twisted and planted it deep into her throat.

She went to the ground and Troy turned just in time to see Charlie stab the chair leg at him. He jumped out the way, and put himself in front of me.

James got up too, and for a second… I didn’t know. I didn’t know what would happen. He turned, looked at me and Troy. Then he looked at Charlie.

“God, I actually hate you so fucking much.” James said. James went low and tried to sweep Charlie’s feet from under him, but Charlie kicked at his leg and broke it.

Then Charlie drove the leg right through James’s heart.

James died.

It was… Strange. The light went out his eyes so fast. The last thing he could do, the only thing he could do was look at us. And he didn’t look at me. He looked at Troy.

Then he just dropped.

Troy shook, and I could see the rage building in his face.

“Jesus. Fuck. Shit. Fuck. Christ.”

“You’re next.” Charlie said.

“He was like a son to you.” Troy said, tears starting to well up.

“Weren’t you trying to kill us too? Why so sanctimonious.”

“I’m nothing like you! You’re evil!”

“You both have blood on your hands.”

“We didn’t kill good people.”

“She did.” Charlie said.

“What?”

“You’re so fucking dense. James had no idea who killed your mother, because I orchestrated it. To cut off your ties. Give him a cunt to dip his cock into so he’d stop thinking of bum fucking this pretty boy. James just fed you some drunk driver so you’d stop being such a pain.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you people…?” I said, sick.

“Liz, if you had a plan… Now would be great.” Troy said.

“What’s the time?”

“What? I don’t know. Past seven?”

“She’s late.” I smiled.

A car engine sounded in the distance and I knew it worked. I knew she saw the glass shatter.

It crashed into the side of the house and took a wall with it. It smelled of fumes.

“Troy, get Helena!” I smiled. I rushed at Charlie and pushed him towards the car, and Troy did the same with Helena. Troy tried to run, but Helena’s eyes widened and she clutched onto him.

“Wait!” I yelled, but it was too late.

Rose got out the back and tossed a molatov at the truck.

It exploded.

Everything burned.


	24. Chapter 24

It was just fire now. It’s a little funny. We won. Yay, us. Everyone was dead. Everyone except me. I had to laugh a little. It was too much. It was like the world’s cruelest joke. Girl finds love of her life, everyone she loves dies.

I tried to crawl out of the debris.. My arm was broken, so was my leg. I wasn’t really feeling pain, so I snapped them back into place. Took a minute, but they fixed themselves.

I pushed some rocks aside and then… Body parts.

Troy’s head and some of Elena’s skull were together, and I couldn’t even hold the tears back. I couldn’t see Rose anywhere.

But then someone else crawled out of the debris. Someone else lived.

Fucking Charlie.

Of course he lived, and not Troy. Of course he made it. Of fucking course he did.

He… He didn’t even regard me. His charred body just went on. There was a piece of wood near me and I couldn’t take it anymore. It wasn’t okay. It wasn’t okay that only fucking Charlie and me got to live, when my mom died, when Butch died, when Troy died.

I yelled as I charged. He turned and then backhanded me so hard I twirled in the air.

He was furious now.

So angry.

Livid.

I’d ruined his family.

Ruined the life he’d build.

Killed the woman he’d been fucking.

Killed the son he’d try to raise.

Burnt his house to the ground.

He go to me and stomped on my back, breaking it instantly. I screamed and cried. I hated being so much weaker than him.

He raised his leg to stomp on my again and I turned and forced that splintered wood straight into his cock. He screamed and I used my arms to push me forward and collide with him.

We went down and I jabbed my fingers into his eyes.

I wanted it to be over, it had to be over

I pushed and pushed and he screamed and thrashed.

I pulled on a thumb and jabbed it into his windpipe and pushed and pushed until I broke skin and pierced it. His screams were drowned out as he gargled on his own blood.

I pulled my other thumb from his eye, held down his hand and bit into his neck. I tore out more and more with my fangs. The charred skin tasted like charcoal in my mouth but I bit and bit and pulled and puled and suddenly his head wasn’t connected to his body any more.

I got off him and lying on the ground, I let out a primal yell. A visceral scream. I screamed and screamed and then it turned into sob.

I was so tired of people dying.

I didn’t want this anymore.

I heard a voice then. Rose. It was Rose. Rose was alive.

I found her, gasping, crying. Half her face was scratched off, and both her legs were broken. It was hard. Pitiful, even.

She was dying in front of me.

“There’s only one thing I can do for you. You can decide later if you hate me for it.”

I bit into my own wrist and pressed it against her mouth, and bit into her neck. Not her. Not Rose. I wasn’t going to be the only one who survived this.

She went limp in my arms after a while.

I didn’t know if it was enough.


	25. Chapter 25

Hours passed, but she did wake up.

Rose and I walked away from it all. We left town, left the country… We couldn’t stay there anymore. It was too painful.

Sometimes I’d wake up and hear her cry about Troy. Sometimes I’d cry myself to sleep because of what James and the Stepfords did to me.

We survived though. We were always survivors.

We had no idea what happened to Mary-Anne. She’d just… Vanished.

I wonder if she ever found James’s body. I wonder what happened to her.

Maybe I’ll never know.

My name is Liz Chapman.

And I’m the girl no one should want to be. I told you my story so you don’t become me. So no one else becomes me. So no one else goes through what I went through.

There are predators. They’ll be pretty, and they’ll appear kind and there will be signs and you might just miss them. But there are predators, and they look human and can act human but these monsters are anything but.

They will try and isolate you and harm you.

But you will always be strong than them.

I just hope when it’s all done, you have more people than I do.


End file.
